POPULATION:

6 million.

PREVIOUS OLYMPICS:

None. It bid for the games in 1936, 2004 and 2012 but was never a finalist.

MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS HOSTED:

1950 World Cup, Formula One races in 1978 and from 1981-89, 2007 Pan American Games. In the past decade, Rio has organized international events for 18 out of the 26 Olympic summer sports, and Brazil for 22. Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup.

NUMBER OF VENUES:

34 (including the main Olympic stadium); 18 already in place, nine will be built permanently and seven will be built temporarily.

PROJECTED COST:

$14.4 billion.

PROS:

Would be first South American country to host the games; has strong public support; financial guarantees from all levels of government; stable economy; experience from successfully staging the 2007 Pan Am Games; unrivaled natural beauty; opportunity to leave a legacy of social improvement to entire region; venue plan would fit with ongoing urban regeneration; prime-time live TV coverage across much of the world; 65 million of Brazil’s population of more than 190 million are younger than 18.

CONS:

Security is a concern as violence remains an almost-daily occurrence, especially in slums and poor communities. Although violent crime typically stays away from the upscale areas where the Olympics will take place, muggings and petty crimes occur. The IOC says Rio has a shortage of hotel rooms, and that its plan to use four villages and six cruise ships to house people, plus a planned 20,000 room media village in the Barra district, would require “particular attention.” The city’s geography of mountains and coastline could impact travel distances for some athletes, and effective transportation _ including dedicated Olympic road lanes and new infrastructure _ would be “critical.” Rio has the largest budget among the four finalists at more than $14 billion, and critics say the money would be better spent on pressing social, education and security needs.

IOC EVALUATION REPORT COMMENT:

The “games would benefit from major infrastructure investments already planned for the long-term development of Rio and the staging of the 2014 World Cup,” but “from a sponsorship perspective, the commission expresses some concern about the ability of games sponsors to fully activate their programmes in Brazil for a four year period, given the marketing activity surrounding the 2014 World Cup.”